Batman: The Animated Series Volume Two
Batman: The Animated Series - "Volume One"
Starring: Kevin Conroy, Efrem Zimbalist Jr, Bob Hastings, Robert Costanzo
Series Creators: Paul Dini, Eric Radomski, and Bruce Timm
After highly enjoying Volume One of this series, getting Volume Two was an easy decision. I'm happy to say that the novelty did not wear off with this set of 28 episodes, and I'll be picking up Volume Three once I get the chance.
The series is simply a great collection of fun Batman adventures. The "dark deco" style of the series helps maintain the mystique of the Dark Knight, while still maintaining fast-paced episodic television aimed at kids and fans alike. The show originally aired on Saturday afternoons, and thus had to meet broadcast standards for Saturday cartoon shows, but is fairly sophisticated in its storytelling and standards. In fact, there are episodes in the set that make me wonder how they snuck them by the censors. Nothing too racy or violent, but there were a few times that logic suggests some deaths and murder occurred. But, I guess since they didn't show dead bodies, they were able to sneak by.
Making their debut in this volume are Kyodai Ken, Dr. Hugo Strange, HARDAC, Barbara Gordon, Talia, Ra's al Ghul (although, it is only a brief cameo), Zatanna, and The Riddler. Old foes return from volume one, such as The Joker, The Penguin, The Mad Hatter, Poison Ivy, Harley Quinn, Two-Face, Rupert Thorne, The Man Bat, Clayface, and foe/accomplice Catwoman.
Stand out episodes include "Robin's Reckoning" an Emmy award-winning two-parter that details Robin's origin (complete with the death's of his parents. Strangely, the show never did the same for Batman's origin), "Heart of Steel" featuring a pre-Batgirl Barbara Gordon, "Almost Got 'Im" where villains The Joker, The Penguin, Two-Face, Poison Ivy, and Killer Croc all trade stories about near-successes over Batman, "Birds of a Feather" an episode that succeeds in making The Penguin a sympathetic character, "What is Reality?" where The Riddler toys with Batman and Robin in a virtual reality world, "Off Balance" which debuts Talia and Ra's al Ghul (I was impressed at how close it mirrored al Ghul's debut in Batman 232 from the 70's after I read Batman: Tales of the Demon), "Zatanna" which has some nice, flirty banter between Batman and Zatanna, and "Harley and Ivy" a Thelma and Louise type adventure with the two villainesses, marking the first time the two were ever put together.
So, if you're a fan of the series or a fan of the comic, you should definately consider picking up this series. A fantastic sampling of Batman lore that treats the characters and world of The Dark Knight far better than any live action movie ever has.
4.5/5
Related:
Batman: The Animated Series - Volume One
Batman: Mask of the Phantasm (1993)
Batman: "Tales of the Demon"
Batman: The Animated Series on TV.com